I want to make a Problem Space (Project) public

Owned by Former user (Deleted)
Last updated: Oct 28, 2018
4 min read


Please ensure you adequately assess the risks associated with public access to your Jira Cloud instance. The Permission Scheme below is illustrative only and should be reviewed by your Jira Administrator before being applied.

For additional information on project permissions, please consult Atlassian documentation:

This how-to guide will demonstrate how to provide public (anonymous) access to a problem space (project) for innovation collaboration with external customers. Note, that while the tryble.io Innovation Management for Jira app will allow public users to edit Problem and Possibility details, Personas can not be loaded due to Atlassian Security restrictions and therefore hidden.

You will need to be a Jira Administrator to complete this guide.

Step #1 - Create a permission scheme

First, we need to create a new permission scheme that will provide anonymous permissions:

  1. Navigate to Permission Schemes through the global Jira menu (Jira Settings > Issues > Permission Schemes)
  2. Click "Add permission scheme"
  3. Name the new permission scheme something appropriate (e.g. "Public Access") to differentiate it from the default and other schemes
  4. Once created, you'll be redirected back to the Permission Scheme listing page and will see your newly created scheme

Alternatively, you can "copy" an existing permission scheme.

Step #2 - Modify the permission scheme for public access

Now, we need to add/modify the created permission scheme to provide access to "anyone" for the actions required to find your public project and create/edit issues:

  1. Under the "Actions" column, click "Permissions" for the newly created Permission Scheme
  2. Click "Grant Permissions" and add the following permissions for "Anyone" in the popup window (as per the screenshot)
    1. Browse Project
    2. Create Issues
    3. Edit Issues
    4. Link Issues
    5. Add Comments
    6. Create Attachments (if desired)
  3. Refine the other permissions as required, based on your organisational security policies (the displayed is an example only)

Note, that if you omit assigning the other actions to the relevant Project Role, Application Access or Group then the relevant Jira Users will not be able to manage the created Problems or Possibilities.

Step #3 - Create & modify a Field Configuration to make "Reporter" optional

In order to create anonymous Problems and Possibilities, we need to change the "Reporter" field to "Optional" otherwise an error will be displayed.

  1. Navigate to the "Field Configuration" page through the Jira main menu (Jira Settings > Issues > Field Configurations)
  2. Copy an existing "Field Configuration" (e.g. the default) and name the copy something appropriate (e.g. "Public Access Field Configuration")
  3. Under the "Actions" column for the newly created field configuration, click "Configure"
  4. Change the "Reporter" field to "Optional".

Alternatively, you could change the field configuration already applied to the project you want to make public.

Step #4 - Create a Field Configuration Scheme

To apply the field configurations created above, it has to be associated with issue types in a Field Configuration Scheme:

  1. Navigate to the "Field Configuration Scheme" page through the Jira main menu (Jira Settings > Issues > Field Configurations Schemes)
  2. Click "Add field configuration scheme", name it something appropriate (e.g. "Public Access Field Configuration Scheme")
  3. Under the "Actions" column click "Configure" for the newly created configuration scheme
  4. Associate Problem and Possibility issue types with the newly created field configuration scheme
  5. Add any other issues types you'd like anonymous users to be able to create (e.g. task), otherwise they will receive a "reporter required" error

Step #5 - Apply the public permission scheme and field configuration

Finally, the schemes created above have to be applied to a project to enable public access:

  1. Navigate to Settings for the project you would like to have publicly accessible
  2. Select a different permission scheme for your chosen project (Permissions > Actions > Use a different scheme) 
  3. From the drop-down list, select the public access permission scheme create in Step #1 and click "Associate"
  4. Select a different field configuration (Fields > Actions > Use a different scheme)
  5. From the drop-down list, select the public access field configuration scheme created in Step #4 and click "Associate"

Step #6 - Test public access

To test public access you need to use one of the following methods so you're not recognisable to your usual Jira Cloud instance:

  1. Log out of Jira (and other Atlassian products)
  2. Use an alternate browser that you are not signed into Jira (or other Atlassian products)
  3. Use an "private" or "incognito" mode in your browser

Once you have chosen a method:

  1. Navigate to your project URL that you applied the public schemes (e.g. https://tryble.atlassian.net/projects/PUB/board)
  2. From the Board or "+" on the global menu try to create a Problem or Possibility

For additional information, please consult Atlassian documentation: